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Lovely cupcakes!

I do really like cake and have become a big fan of cupcakes with them recently becoming very trendy and evolving from the simple fairy cakes that I used to make as a child to bigger, more elaborate cupcakes now. Now you may think that I am not writing a review about the product in the title as it states they are 'muffins' but I have noticed that Tesco has recently changed the description of these cakes from muffins to cupcakes although they seem to be the exactly the same thing, with just the exception in the change of cake wrappings.

~~~~~Price~~~~~These Cookies and Cream cupcakes are Tesco's own brand so can therefore only be purchased in Tesco stores. I purchased mine from my local Tesco express at a cost of £1.24 for a pack of two cupcakes. I did think that this was a fairly reasonable price but would not have paid any more for them as they were not very big.

~~~~~Packaging~~~~~The cupcakes come in a plastic container which has two large dints that keep the cupcakes held in place. There is a cardboard wrap that sits around the middle of the plastic, but still allows you to see the cupcakes inside which allows you to be enticed to them. Each cupcake is encased in a brown and white polka dot paper case.

~~~~~Nutritional Information~~~~~Now these are obviously not the best thing for your diet and if you are watching your weight then I would probably suggesting avoiding these cupcakes. Each cupcake contains the following:Calories - 345kcalSugar - 31.1gFat - 19.3gSaturates - 6.7gSalt - 0.4g

~~~~~The Product~~~~~The cupcakes are cookies and cream flavoured, the first thing you notice about the cupcakes as you can see through the plastic casing is the lovely creamy looking white frosting topped with cookie pieces. Under the thick layer of frosting is a moist vanilla flavoured sponge, to me a cupcake needs to be really fresh and these did not disappoint. The best part is inside the middle of the sponge is a secret chocolate fondant filling!

~~~~~Taste/Opinion~~~~~As I stated earlier I really do like the new generation of cupcakes and if I see a new variety or flavour on sale then I have to purchase one....or two! I did really enjoy these cupcakes, I say 'these' as I almost ended up eating both as my partner could not manage to finish his as it was a little too sweet for him, so waste not want not! To me these cupcakes were just perfect with soft moist sponge and plenty of creamy frosting. If you have not tried these and want to treat yourself to something indulgent then give them a go!

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Ok but not worth the money on a regular basis

These normally cost £1.85 per twin pack but were on offer during April for 'just' £1.50. The saving's not massive, but the sticker advertising it was, so they caught my eye. These muffins can be found in the chiller in the bakery section, alongside other fresh cream cakes. My local Tesco already sells muffins in the fresh section, and on the pre-packed shelves, making this a third place to be tempted by them.

I'd seen these many times before I bought them, and they'd always intrigued me. I love the whole Cookies n Cream combo, but in ice cream or chocolate. After all, cookies are hard and gritty - while muffins are soft and fluffy. Would the combination even work? Tesco seemed to think so.The pack (see through plastic with two divided sections for the muffins) describes these as:

If I'd read this beforehand, I might not have bothered getting them, since 4% is very little, and equates to the cookie pieces you can see on top, whereas I had hoped / assumed there might be more nestling inside. The muffins are actually chocolate chocolate chip, which looks much better against the creamy topping and the dark shards of cookie scattered on top. They're pretty, too, wrapped in a wax paper case that sets them apart from the usual multipacks of 4 standard muffinsThe muffins are not massive, which explains why the calorie content is only 345 in each, despite the cream (many muffins are nearer the 500 calories mark and some, for example in BB's, are considerably more). Each one does, however, contain a startling 26g sugar and 21g fat. But are they worth it?

I thought these were surprisingly ordinary muffins. The chocolate chocolate-chip part had a mild chocolate flavour, nowhere near the amount you might expect for the double reference. It was more of a chocolate' flavour' than the flavour of chocolate, and while not too artificial, it certainly didn't taste like they were laced with Lindt. The cream topping is also quite bland, not as sweet as proper fresh cream, and the cookie pieces really don't taste of much at all - you'd barely notice them if it weren't for the contrast of colours. The cream comes a little bit down the middle as well but doesn't run all the way through the muffins. It's a little like an oversized butterfly cake, with the well for the filling making only a slight indent.

While the flavour might be a little off, the texture of these is lovely. The muffins are soft and fluffy, not as heavy and dense as some can be. The cream topping is mid-way between proper whipped cream and that non-existent airy spray cream, while the cookie bits are firm but not too hard and crunchy. I ate one of mine as it was, and the other the following day for breakfast, nuking it in the microwave and adding a dollop of yogurt. This made a lovely chocolatey and creamy gooey mess, but to look at was almost, but not entirely, unlike muffin.

In the end I did like these but thought they were no better than the usual bakery muffins - costing double for half the number, no less. While they were nice as a one off, I wouldn't get them again, and if I did want something a bit more special, I'd opt for a do it yourself version, adding yogurt, cream or icing of some kind to a normal muffin and sprinkling some vermicelli on top. I thought they needed more flavour, and could have handled it too since they were relatively small. I don't know where those 26g of sugar went, but they hid them well in a product that was surprisingly lacking in sweetness. I also thought these had nothing to do with Cookies and Cream which is a clearly defined taste of dark cookies and a vanilla background - nothing about these was vanilla-like or, for that matter, cookie-like. The only real bonus was that the cream topping stopped the cake part from drying out, making them stay fresh a little longer.

In the end they were neither a decent cream cake nor a decent muffin. Disappointingly average. As Tesco Muffins go, I've had better.